ISLAMABAD, Feb 7: The government has directed all Global System of Mobile Phone (GSM) operators to upgrade their systems for allowing tracking of all connected handsets to check cell phone theft.

The directives issued on the orders of the prime minister will be implemented by the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority within six months.

The information technology ministry on Tuesday handed over a set of policy directives to the PTA, asking it to come up with a comprehensive solution to the longstanding issue of mobile phone snatching.

The government has realized the graveness of the issue after a man recently snatched the cell phone of the Prime Minister’s Adviser Nelofar Bakhtiar in Islamabad. The phone was recovered and the accused arrested.

Information Technology Minister Awais Ahmad Khan Leghari said in a statement that the directives required all the GSM operators to upgrade their systems to a minimum level allowing tracking and checking of all connecting handsets against Equipment Identity Register databases. Such checks would enable barring of service if a handset was in the list of reported stolen sets.

He said the implementation of the directives would be ensured by the PTA within six months. The PTA will also prepare regulations to oversee the implementation and enforce all the required processes and procedures.

The GSM-based operators would also be asked to improve their networks and incorporate appropriate databases which would deny access to handsets reported stolen, through an appropriate mechanism of reporting by the owners.

The databases would be synchronized across all the relevant networks to render a stolen set of one network useless on any other network, the minister said.

A programme, including a process for collaboration with the law-enforcing agencies through the provincial governments, has been outlined.

The PTA will lay down the framework for the role of citizen-police liaison groups for maximizing the utility of the technical solution.

The requirements of capacity building, training, software applications and infrastructure required by law-enforcement agencies and citizen-police liaison groups may be funded through the government’s Information and Communication Technology Research and Development Fund.

A web application serving the purpose of handset history registry would be maintained so that consumers and retailers could consult it while trading in used sets, the minister said.

The government will launch a media campaign to create awareness about the proposed system.